Facebook And The Ex: Do You Accept the Friend Request
I’ve been pretty curious as to what other people felt about accepting friend requests from their ex boyfriends/girlfriends on Facebook so I did a quick little ‘poll’ on Twitter to find out the views of others. Of course I also had to ask on none other than Facebook itself. LOL
Inquiring minds want to know (ok at least my inquiring mind wanted to know!):
Do you accept Facebook friend requests from ex boyfriends/girlfriends?
Most of the answers were pretty similar to my thoughts. There are some ex’s that you can say yes to and others you can’t. Looks like most everyone accepts the requests.
Twitter Answers:
SMWomen – “It depends on our relationship NOW. I have exes who are current friends. For them-yes. Exes who are out of my life -NO.”
Chele – “I did. But maybe I’m weird. I don’t have anything to hide. They are ex’s for a reason. Unless they were stalker ex’s? LOL”
michellegust – “Depends on how things ended. If on a good note then yes, otherwise nope.”
Patrysha – “Hasn’t come up yet…course my last boyfriend was over 20 years ago…Oh with the exception of my step-dad’s grandson who was my bf for about 10 minutes when we were 13 & 14.”
Tsoniki – “I have one ex on my facebook, but he is from high school & how old am I? LOL Plus been married for so long, he is too, etc.”
Facebook Answers:
Heather – “I do… but I’m friends with all of mine…they are all on here and my friends… even my exhusband…and his wife… and they are neighbors on farm town… but i’m weird.”
April – “I do. I’ve actually got 4 or 5 ex boyfriends as friends on Facebook. I figure whatever happened is in the past, we’re adults, we can get over it enough to share silly quiz results and tend to each others’ Farmville farms;).”
Jamie (Finally a male’s perspective!!! Thanks for answering Jamie! LOL) – “Depends on the length of time when the relationship ended, and if you can actually stay friends. Sometimes they are better friends then anything before.”
LaTara – “I do and that is because we are all friends.”
Linda – “I do, and so does my husband. As long as you are not wanting to hook back up i do not see anything wrong with it.”
Christa – “Haven’t had one request me yet, but I probably would. My hubby follows 2 of his…I am friends with one of them, she is rather cool wish we could have been friends years ago. Him and I have been married for over 16 years (together over 17) now so these relationships are well past over.”
Jennifer (Jen you are such a dork! LOL) – “Go for it! Add your ex-girlfriends… lol”
Kelli – “Ex-boyfriends absolutely…Ex-husbands absolutely NOT!! Heehee!! Just joking. I usually accept everyone 
.”
Annette – “Yes, I am “friends” with an ex on FB & Bebo. I’ve been with my Hubby for almost 19yrs so all exes are Ancient History as far as romance is concerned!! LOL”
My Opinions:
First off thank you everyone that took the time to pipe in and give me your answers.
I’m kind of on the fence about this. There are those I have accepted their friend requests and those that I didn’t. And there’s one ex that I know he has a Facebook page (ok yes I was a little ’stalkerish’ curious and did a search for him!) but I’m so glad he didn’t send a friend request…I still care about him and it would be way too hard to have him as a friend on Facebook.
So back to where I was…some are yes and some are no. I don’t have anything to hide from any of my ex’s (heck some of them read my blog which has caused problems in the past but that’s a whole different post). If they want to know what I’m up to that’s fine I don’t care. Do I want to know what they are up to? Some of them yes, some of them no.
I’ve accepted a friend request from an ex only to realize I don’t want to be his friend so I’ve deleted him. Not because I still care for him or anything like that but just because it causes too many problems for me…and I won’t go into details about this certain person but I’ll just say he has issues and leave it at that 
So…do you accept your ex’s Facebook Friend Requests?
1shelly
wrote on 16 September 2009 at 9:43
I don’t think I would accept my ex’s Facebook request to be honest. It’s really none of his business what I am up to and I have no desire to be his friend after the way I have been treated by him for the past 8 years (ex-husband).
2Felicia - I Complete Me
wrote on 16 September 2009 at 9:47
Hello Tisha,
Fellow MMer here. I am actually about to do a show on facebook and relationships next week and this is so one of the subjects we are going to talk about.
I have accepted friend requests from exes. I personally don’t see a problem with it. I’m actually friends or at least on good terms with all of my exes. My husband feels the same way.
There was one ex I was reluctant to friend, not because of our relationship, but because of his current marriage. I recently found out he was going through some marital issues (not to mention, his family and friends were talking about I was his best girlfriend at his baby shower) so I didn’t want to disrespect his wife. We are friends on facebook but rarely talk, which is perfectly fine by me. I’m not one to break up a happy home or any home for that matter.
3Bridget
wrote on 16 September 2009 at 10:09
I have sent friend requests to and received friend requests from ex-boyfriends. Since I have always been on friendly terms with them over the years, I did not see a problem with it. However, one day I was reading a book and realized how certain people from my past really manipulated me. I do not hold grudges, but I realized, do I really need them in my life as a Facebook friend? Probably not. So I deleted them. One ex in particular is someone who it has taken YEARS to get over, and he had requested me as a friend on FB. He was a very sweet guy, and honestly, I just can’t take the updates on him and his family, although I am happy for him. So I realized I would not move on unless I un-friended him. So I did.
4Author (Tishia)
wrote on 16 September 2009 at 10:55
Shelly – I think it definitely comes to the “relationship” you have now and whether you are on friendly terms with an ex. And it certainly doesn’t sound like you have any reason to be friends with him. I understand…I have a few of those ex’s too! (Thank you for your comment)
Felicia – Hey there Felicia! I’m definitely interested in listening to the show you. You said a key point – “because of his current relationship”…I think people need to think about that as well (the ex’s significant others feelings) before accepting/requesting to friend an ex! (thank you so much for giving your input!)
Bridget – I know exactly what you are talking about when you mentioned a particular ex and it taking YEARS to get over him. That’s EXACTLY why I’m so glad he hasn’t friended me on Facebook because it would be way too tempting to add him and then ’suffer’ because I couldn’t handle seeing pictures, updates, etc. We aren’t ex’s because that’s what I wanted…it’s just something that needed to happen (long story) and I still care a lot about him.
5Laura
wrote on 16 September 2009 at 13:04
I missed your tweet about this!
I would NEVER EVER EVER accept a request from my ex husband!
But am still friends with a few ex-boyfriends! Its worked pretty well so far – no major dramas!
6Canadian Bald Guy
wrote on 16 September 2009 at 18:33
I’ve actually got quite a few ex-girlfriends on my facebook. I’m apparently not the best boyfriend but I’m a GREAT ex.
Having said that, I’m not facebook friends with my ex-wife…that would be pushing things a bit too far.
7Sourav
wrote on 17 September 2009 at 6:29
Well My ex gfs have never sent friend requests to me on facebook or myspace but if they will I am going to accept it.
Thanks
8admin
wrote on 19 September 2009 at 16:43
Laura – Thanks for commenting. So far everyone has pretty much said the same things – yes for some ex’s and there’s just those are a big fat NO.
Canadian Bald Guy – Thanks for piping up and sharing your opinion. It’s nice having a man share his opinions.
Sourav – Thanks for sharing your opinion. I always enjoy hearing a man’s perspective on things.
9Lisa Maria Carroll
wrote on 20 September 2009 at 16:36
Oh my… My ex-boyfriend sent me a friend request months ago, and I so ignored it. His page had too much drama going on, and I didn’t want to be part of the circus. He was pretty heated, but, oh well.
Then, lo and behold, my ex-husband sent me a friend request last week. What the…? Mind you, we have four children, but we NEVER talk, not now, or when the children were growing up. So, I don’t know what that was about. I was looking around waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out of my screen.
10Author (Tishia)
wrote on 23 September 2009 at 0:03
Lisa – I’ve also ignored Friend Requests from ex’s before. As for your ex husband sending one – that’s interesting that he decided he wanted to friend you on FaceBook but you never talk. Men are weird
11Vanessa
wrote on 25 September 2009 at 14:47
Yes I do. Why? Becuase we always finished our relationship as “friend” and in good stand. I don’t see anything wrong.
12Author (Tishia)
wrote on 25 September 2009 at 23:20
Vanessa-It was just a general question that I was asking because I was curious to know others opinions on the subject. For the most part I have added ex’s that have sent friend requests but there are a few that I didn’t.